Across The Nation
NAE Appoints Walter Kim as Next President
At a meeting held October 17, 2019, in St. Paul, Minnesota, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) Board of Directors elected Walter Kim as its president, effective January 1, 2020.
| President-elect Walter Kim currently serves as pastor for leadership at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, and will continue in this role as he leads the NAE. He ministered for fifteen years at Boston’s historic Park Street Church, a congregation that played a key role in the NAE’s founding. Kim has been a member of the NAE board since 2013 and has presented at NAE events, contributed to NAE publications, and served on working groups on a variety of issues, including ethics and church life, racial reconciliation, and the politics of sexuality. Kim said, “I am humbled to serve the National Association of Evangelicals, which is a vital influence for good. We have before us the compelling call of gospel witness and work, and it will be an honor to lead this organization.” Kim received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver, and his B.A. from Northwestern University in Philosophy and History. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and a licensed minister in the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. In addition to the pulpit ministry, he has spoken at college campuses, churches, retreats and symposia, particularly in the areas of biblical theology and cultural issues. He also serves on the board of Christianity Today. He is married to Toni Kim, and the couple has two teenagers. Open Bible President Randall Bach, in response to Dr. Kim’s election, stated, |
It has been my privilege to know Dr. Kim over the last few years. I am impressed with his heart for God, impressive intellect, and precise communication skills. He is humbly confident, and I look forward to serving with him as a member of the NAE executive committee. I expect him to serve us with excellence.”
Kim will succeed Leith Anderson, who has served as NAE president since 2006. Other elections made at the board meeting include John Jenkins, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Maryland, to the office of chair of the NAE board; and Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita and ambassador of The Wesleyan Church, to the office of vice chair. Open Bible President Randall A. Bach and Dr. Ed Stetzer were elected to the executive committee of NAE’s board of directors. Their new elections will go into effect at the next NAE board meeting in March 2020.
